Jonathan Goldstein

And it took Quincy to discover it.

Michael couldn't wait to walk the red carpet, see himself on the big screen, and enjoy a virgin appletini with Tom Hanks.

Did your parents come with you to the premiere?

The lie Michael's referring to had nothing to do with the historical anecdote itself.

That part was true.

But over the end credits, Quincy played footage of the actual present-day Thomas E. Jones being interviewed on his deathbed.

The only problem?

That guy was an actor.

It seems Quincy had just found a random old man, slipped him into a gown, strapped him into a hospital bed, and christened him Thomas E. Jones.

But there was one thing Quincy wasn't counting on.

And Thomas E. Jones' real family wasn't happy.

Because as it turned out, the real Thomas E. Jones was very much alive.

Breathing, eating, sleeping, and not on a deathbed, but just a regular old bed bed.

And so Pat Croce decided to pull the movie.

Michael had to go back to his friends, family, his grandmother, who'd been clipping every article about the movie, and say, remember how I was going to be a big movie star?

It was all a fraud.

And the guy who thought I had talent?

Also a fraud.

And I never talked to Quincy again.

Michael abandoned his dream of becoming an actor.